On 'Devil' George W Bush and more: famous quotes by Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan President, died at the age of 58 on March 6. The firebrand socialist leader was a sharp critic of capitalism and American imperialism for which he was frequently ridiculed by western media outlets. Here are some of his most famous quotes.

"Those who want to go directly to hell can follow capitalism... and those of us who want to build heaven here on earth will follow socialism."

"The Devil is right at home. The Devil, the Devil himself, is right in the house. And the Devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the Devil came here. Right here. And it smells of sulphur still today. Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the Devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world." - on George W. Bush, who appeared before the UN General Assembly a day earlier in 2006.

Hugo Chavez, the firebrand Venezuelan President, died on March 6. Here are some of his most outrageous quotes.

"Remember, little girl, I'm like the thorn tree that flowers on the plain. I waft my scent to passers-by and prick he who shakes me. Don't mess with me, Condoleezza. Don't mess with me, girl." - on Condoleezza Rice

"Capitalism is the way of the devil and exploitation. If you really want to look at things through the eyes of Jesus Christ - who I think was the first socialist - only socialism can really create a genuine society."

"Don't be shameless, Mr Blair. Don't be immoral, Mr Blair. You are one of those who have no morals. You are not one who has the right to criticize anyone about the rules of the international community. You are an imperialist pawn who attempts to curry favor with Danger Bush-Hitler, the number one mass murderer and assassin there is on the planet. Go straight to hell, Mr Blair."

"I think it's imprudent for a king to shout at a president to shut up. Mr King, we are not going to shut up." on a spat with Spanish monarch Juan Carlos I.

"Christopher Columbus was the spearhead of the biggest invasion and genocide ever seen in the history of humanity."

"Israel has gone mad. It's attacking, doing the same thing to the Palestinian and Lebanese people that it has criticised - and with reason - [in the case of] the Holocaust. But this is a new Holocaust." - on Israel attacking Lebanon

"The imperialist, genocidal, fascist attitude of the US president has no limits. I think Hitler would be like a suckling baby next to George W. Bush"

"Just look at the internal repression inside the United States, the Patriot Act, which is a repressive law against US citizens. They have put in jail a group of journalists for not revealing their sources. They won't allow them to take pictures of the bodies of the dead soldiers, many of them Latinos, coming from Iraq. Those are signs of Goliath's weaknesses."

"Fidel always tells me, 'Chávez be careful, they've developed technology, be careful with what you eat, they could stick you with a small needle." - on possible US attempts at assassinations

"It would not be strange to hear that there had been civilization on Mars, but maybe capitalism arrived there, imperialism arrived, and finished off the planet."